At least 51 people killed in a coal mine explosion in Iran

Iran's official media said on Sunday that a gas explosion in a coal mine in the country's South Khorasan Province had killed at least 51 people and injured 20 more.

According to official media, the Madanjoo company's mine's B and C blocks had a methane gas explosion that resulted in the accident.

“76% of the country’s coal is provided from this region and around 8 to 10 big companies are working in the region including Madanjoo company,” the governor of South Khorasan Province Ali Akbar Rahimi told state TV on Sunday.

Block B's rescue mission is now finished. Rahimi had originally stated that out of the 47 workers in the block, 30 had killed and 17 had been hurt.

Block C rescue operations have begun. The block has a high methane density, and the procedure will take three to four hours, he continued.

According to state TV, there were 69 workers in the blocks when the explosion occurred.

“Seventeen injured people were transported to the hospital and 24 people are still missing,” it said earlier on Sunday citing the head of Iran’s Red Crescent.

According to the official IRNA news agency, "the number of dead workers increased to 51 and the number of injured increased to 20."

As he got ready to leave for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Iran's newly elected reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian issued an order directing all efforts to save the stranded individuals and provide for their families. He added that an inquiry into the explosion had started.

"I spoke with the ministers of health, interior and security and ordered that the issues of the families of the victims and the injured be quickly resolved," Pezeshkian said, according to a statement from his office. "I also requested to take measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents by improving work standards in the country's mines."

Per IRNA, the Tabas mine has an area of about 30,000 square kilometers, or nearly 11,600 square miles, and contains substantial quantities of thermal coal and coking.

It is "considered the richest and largest coal area in Iran," IRNA said.